Oregon weather 'preparation stuff is common sense'

While hardware stores can you put together a custom kit for your home or car, standard kits are also available through the Red Cross.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Norman Chusid said you don't want to be caught in winter weather without the basic essentials like flood barriers, faucet covers, flashlights.

“Make sure your furnace, that the filter is fresh and has been changed," said Chusid, who owns Ankeny Hardware. The last thing you want to do in the middle of a windstorm or heavy rain when you're wet and cold is to have your furnace not work because the filter is bad.”

While hardware stores can help you put together a custom kit for your home or car, standard kits are also available through the Red Cross.

Rebecca Marshall with the Red Cross Cascades told KOIN 6 News incoming bad weather makes it crucial to have extra blankets, water, snacks, snow tires and shovels for your car in case of an emergency.

“Wherever you're driving, it's going to be slick, right? We've got fallen leaves, we've got (standing) water, we've got ice and snow in the mountains," Marshall said. "So give yourself a lot of extra stopping distance, space between you and the cars. And if you're in the mountains, I always say snow plows are your friends. So give them room to do their work. Don't try to pass them, they're making things safer for you.”

“Most of the preparation stuff that you do is just common sense in this weather," Chusid said.

Around the region

(AP) — Winter weather brought high winds and snow to parts of the Pacific Northwest, knocking out power in some areas and dumping fresh snow across the Cascade Range.

In Oregon, more than 2,000 customers in the Portland area also lost power, outage maps from Portland General Electric and Pacific Power showed.

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The power cuts came as high winds swept across the region, reaching 52 mph (84 kph) at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to the National Weather Service's office in Seattle.

In Oregon, more than 2,000 cusotmers in the Portland area also lost power, outage maps from Portland General Electric and Pacific Power showed.

The power cuts came as high winds swept across the region, reaching 52 mph at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to the National Weather Service's office in Seattle.

In the Oregon Cascades, the Mt. Bachelor ski resort near Bend hosted its opening day Saturday after receiving roughly a foot of snow in the previous 24 hours. Timberline on Mount Hood reported similar snow fall over the same time period and had expected to open its chair lifts but had to postpone until Sunday.